As someone who thinks the ETF is "great for Houston" and "great for Texas," Ulrich sat down Sunday night and wrote me a lengthy e-mail criticizing me and the Dallas Morning News for suggesting that the fund has become a kitty from which Gov. Rick Perry rewards some of his major contributors with multimillion- dollar grants.

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"Every Houston area company that applies is reviewed three times by large contingents of objective regional volunteers," he wrote. "If it passes those hurdles, it goes to the State Advisory Committee. Only after approval by the state committee is it seen by the governor, lieutenant governor and House speaker," all three of whom must approve it.

In a conversation Thursday, Ulrich assured me that he and most members of his screening committee are very nonpolitical.

I found him quite sincere and his arguments impressive.

Unfortunately, Perry appears to be working hard to provide evidence for the opposing view.

Wednesday, the Morning News reported that Perry (and the other two elected officials) last year approved a $4.5 million grant to a company headed by Austinite David G. Nance without getting the grant approved by the regional screening committee or the 17-member statewide committee.

Perry admits that Nance is a close friend. He is also a generous friend.

Nance has given $80,000 to Perry's campaign fund since he was elected governor. In addition, a company he headed, Developtech Resources Corp., gave $50,000 to the Republican Governors Association in 2007 and another $50,000 in 2008 when Perry headed the organization, according to federal records.

What's more, Perry's son owned stock in another of Nance's companies.

Grant not announced

In recent weeks, Perry has announced millions of dollars in grants from the fund in Dallas, San Antonio, Houston and Austin, all trumpeted on the fund's website.

But the $4.5 million grant was not announced, is not mentioned among the website's press releases, and is not included among what appears to be a comprehensive list of 123 "commercialization" grants totaling more than $154 million on the website's "dashboard" page.

Then comes the Austin American-Statesmen on Thursday with a story revealing that Alan Kirchoff, who was director of the fund at the time the $4.5 million grant was quietly awarded, personally accompanied Nance in meetings with a variety of state officials seeking state funding for another new company weeks after resigning from his state position in August.

Unaware of ties

That revolving-door pairing hardly inspires confidence in the approval process.

When I talked to Walter Ulrich on Thursday, he said he wasn't aware of the $4.5 million grant when he wrote his e-mail to me Sunday, nor of Kirchoff's apparent ties to Nance.

Still, he thinks the screening process has integrity.

I believe he's right for most of the awards and hope he's right for all of them.

But despite the governor's protestations, recent disclosures make it hard to have confidence that the program is, like Ivory soap, 99 and 44/100 percent pure.